Ioannis Metaxas

Ioannis Metaxas (12 April 1871-29 January 1941) was Prime Minister of Greece from 13 April 1936 to 29 January 1941, succeeding Konstantinos Demertzis and preceding Alexandros Koryzis.

Biography
Ioannis Metaxas was born on the Greek island of Ithaca in 1871, and he was commissioned into the Greek Army in 1870. Metaxas became Army Chief of Staff in 1913, and he supported the King's policy of neutrality during World War I; he was exiled when Greece did enter the war in 1915. He returned in 1920 and, after leading an unsuccessful coup was exiled again from 1923 to 1924. Despite his monarchist leanings, he recognized the Greek Republic in 1924 and became active in politics, holding several ministerial posts from 1928. In April 1936, he became Prime Minister upon the restoration of the monarchy, and on 4 August 1936 was given dictatorial powers. He was appointed head of government for life in 1938, and corruption was reduced and social services developed, while the armed forces were made more efficient. In 1940, he led the Greek victory against the Italian invaders in World War II. He died just before the German occupation of Greece.